(from ReadWrite Cloud)


There are some whose definition of cloud computing includes by rule, not by option, the capability to provision additional resources such as storage and processing into an expanding pool, without regard to brand, format, or protocol. That isn’t exactly what we’re seeing today from IBM, which many will recall was able to bend “grid computing” toward its center of gravity as well.

The new universe of IBM cloud services is covered in a layer of semantic goo. Swimming through it can be suffocating, so instead of replicating it here, we’ve surgically extracted the core elements of today’s multiple announcements, and we present them here all clean and free of metaphor.

This just in: IBM launched its current set of SmartCloud private cloud services for business last April. Not today, but six months ago. This was not IBM’s first entry into the cloud; it has been building Platform-as-a-Service around WebSphere since 2009. Further, IBM extended its private cloud services last June. So articles you may be reading today about IBM premiering private and even public cloud services today for the first time, are victims of the aforementioned semantic goo.

Read more

(from CRN

Solution Provider Teaches ‘Cloud 101′

Despite all the hype about cloud computing, many solution providers are still unsure of how to get started in the new technology.

Dave Sobel, founder and CEO of Evolve Technologies, a Fairfax, Va.-based solution provider, is on a mission to change that. Working with CompTIA, Sobel is teaching the basics of cloud computing to his peers, with an emphasis on customer requirements and what VARs can do to meet them.

CRN caught up with Sobel at this month’s Tech Data Channel Link partner conference during his presentation entitled, “CompTIA’s Quick Start to Building a Cloud Practice.”

Turn the page for Lesson One of the class we’ve entitled, “Cloud 101.”

Read more

(from Channelpro SMB)

Choosing a Virtualization Server

Experts weigh in with pointers for selecting the right virtualization hardware

Building efficient virtualization solutions requires server hardware with specific characteristics, such as additional memory, multicore processors, and high-capacity IO. Some hardware makers are even offering “virtualization ready” servers with multicore processors and embedded hypervisors. The result is that VARs and vendors alike are ruggedizing their hardware to stand up to the rigors of virtualization. Here’s why.

STORAGE

“The sooner you think about storage the better,” says Mark Peters, senior analyst focusing on storage at research firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). “People find they need more performance and capacity about 99 times out of 100. You’re going to need more storage, and you’ll drive it much harder than before.”

While you can rely on physical storage inside your server to support the virtual machines on that server, you lose many of virtualization’s biggest benefits: moving applications when needed, fault tolerance, and fast backup. So to get the most value from virtualization, use shared storage.

Read more

(from PCWorld)

Microsoft to Equip Windows 8 With Virtualization Hosting

The next version of the Microsoft’s desktop OS, code-named “Windows 8″, will include the ability to run other OSes in virtualized containers, the company announced by blog Wednesday (Sept. 7).

Previously, Microsoft’s virtualization hosting software, called Hyper-V, could only be installed on machines running Windows Server. Users who needed to run virtual machines on their Windows 7 desktop computers used third-party software, such as Oracle’s Virtual Box or VMware Workstation.

“In building Windows 8 we worked to enable Hyper-V … to function on the client OS as well,” wrote Mathew John, Microsoft program manager on the Hyper-V team. “In brief, Hyper-V lets you run more than one 32-bit or 64-bit x86 operating system at the same time on the same computer. Instead of working directly with the computer’s hardware, the operating systems run inside of a virtual machine (VM).”

Microsoft sees this new functionality as being initially beneficial for developers and administrators. Developers could test their programs within a virtual environment without worrying about crashing their own OSes. Administrators could standardize their virtual machine infrastructure on Hyper-V, Microsoft suggested.

Read more